League Leaders Shield still to be awarded after Super 8s

Super League clubs have ditched a proposal to award the League Leaders’ Shield at the end of the regular 23-game season.

The idea, which was floated by former Super League executive director Roger Draper, was formally dropped at a meeting of club representatives in Salford on Thursday.

It means the trophy - and with it a £100,000 cheque - will once more go to the team that finishes on top of the table at the end of the Super 8s - after 30 matches.

Clubs are still considering more radical proposals to the league structure put forward by Wigan owner Ian Lenagan but any changes are unlikely to be made for 2019.

The next major development is expected to be the appointment of Everton chief executive Rob Elstone as Super League’s new boss.

Elstone, who worked at the Rugby Football League under Maurice Lindsay in the 1990s before moving into football, is set to leave Everton after this weekend’s last match of the season and take up his new role in Super League on June 1.

The RFL is also on the look-out for a new chief executive to replace Nigel Wood, who vacated the post in January and will take up a new role as chief executive of the Rugby League International Federation at the end of the month.